French Broad River at Rosman Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for French Broad River at Rosman in NC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NC, United States
- Watershed upper french broad
- Primary gauge 03439000 (USGS)
About French Broad River at Rosman
The watershed
French Broad River at Rosman sits in the Upper French Broad watershed in North Carolina.
This station watches the river above an area of 67.9 sq mi (176 km2). That is the drainage feeding this gauge, not the whole watershed downstream.
What the numbers say
With 50 years on record, this site has a wide enough history to show the river’s range. The record high is 10.98 ft (3.35 m), set in September 2024. The record low is 1.77 ft (0.54 m), set in August 2008. For anyone drawing water, launching a boat, or fishing a bank, those two marks define the outer edges of what this reach has already shown.
The seasonal pattern is tighter than the records. The highest typical month is January at 2.61 ft (0.8 m), while the lowest typical month is August at 2.13 ft (0.65 m). The typical annual swing is 5.8 in (14.7 cm). That is the range a dock, intake, or shallow crossing has to live with in an average year.
For this station, the river’s usual high-water season comes in winter and spring, while warmer months tend to run lower between storms. The facts here also show that the lowest typical month is August, which fits that pattern.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is most useful when it is compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station record. That tells you whether today is ordinary for this date, not just whether the stage looks high or low in absolute terms.
That matters on a river like this because a given elevation can mean very different things depending on the season. A reading near the median for today usually says the river is behaving as expected for this time of year; a reading far above or below it flags a departure from the usual daily pattern.
USGS operates this station, and the record spans more than 50 years.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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How every number is computed - About the platform
